AARHUS JAZZ FESTIVAL, HERE WE GO

MUSIC CITIES NETWORK AND SPOT FESTIVAL

And we're at the point when we can now speak about the main stage event, which is the catalyst of everything happening on this tour. Because it's something that shaped all of this.

So what happened was... I got to meet the head of the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra during a visit to another wonderful Aarhus-based festival called SPOT. By the way, it's still one of the most fun festivals I've been to—small, but not too small, with various genres, strange stages, a very versatile audience, and some great dancing opportunities.

I was there with Music Cities Network and we were (and still are) trying to solve some of the bigger issues in the music industry and at one of our round tables I was introduced to people doing jazz at Aarhus. They were super nice and willing to talk about bringing some Lithuanian jazz to Denmark, however... Nobody can afford a big band. Even we ourselves, being a big band cannot afford being a big band.

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS

Like Destiny's Child says, 'At first we started out real cool,' but... then we realized it's going to take a lot—and I mean a lot—of financial support to get us there. No matter how many great ideas we have, no matter how comprehensive and encompassing our communication and networking strategy is, we still have to get there. And here, we have to—no, we want to—say our biggest thank you to the Lithuanian Culture Council, Lithuanian Culture Institute, and LATGA, three organizations in Lithuania that trusted our strategic plans and gave us the financial backbone to travel and play in Denmark. Thank you for supporting the independent music sector.

I guess quite a few people now could say... If it takes three organizations to get one band to a festival, maybe it shouldn't be that hard... What's the point? My answer is, it took more than three organizations, because there are three more organizations in Denmark working on the same musical venture. So, it is six organizations. What's the point, you ask?

THIS IS LITHUANIAN JAZZ TODAY

Mantas Repečka photo (Vilnius Poker)

I would so love to say that the point is sharing jazz with other audiences, having fun, and just enjoying being a creator and a performer, but truth be told... it's not enough these days. Well, at least if you are trying to get funded.

Even though...

Wouldn't it be nice to have a funding program for musicians that gives out financial support for you to just go to a festival, have a few beers, and hang out with awesome people? You don’t even have to play if you don't want to.

Or, or, you get money for a record but you don't feel like creating music now and instead, you go and have some fun in New York, for example... This would be an epic program. If I were a millionaire, I would just give out money for musicians to have fun. But then... what if I give out money to some nasty gatekeepers? Or some richy rich rich musicians? So, even then, there should be some criteria. And criteria is getting me back to the question at hand.

Why are you going there?

Because being an ensemble of great jazz minds—kudos to all the wonderful JJAZZERS—we get the chance to showcase a very broad picture of Lithuanian Jazz. Ranging from 24-year-old to over 40-year-old composers, we can show a colorful spectrum of Lithuanian jazz. And it's bound to find an ear interested in what we do. These people, who work tirelessly to write their music, get to have not only fun but also some exposure to foreign media, networking, and different cultures and traditions in jazz. And maybe, showing them a bit of the jazz world will inspire and motivate them to pursue their dreams.

MAYBE IS ENOUGH

Vitalis Verbus photo (Vilnius Poker)

Maybe is as much as you can hope for. There are no guarantees, but there is wish and there is effort on both sides to make this dream come true. So for the main stage event to AARHUS JAZZ FESTIVAL, we are bringing 8 compositions, by 8 composers and these will be performed by all the JJAZZ big band.

17 people on stage and music that leaves an impression.

Our setlist for the day is:

Grit and Determination (Karolis Šarkus)

Mr. Thelonious (Liutauras Janušaitis)

Night shift (Pranas Kentra)

Bruno Pernadas (Domantas Razmus)

Green Mountain (Gediminas Strupinskas)

Two-faced (Apolinaras Dubauskas)

Vaccum (Jievaras Jasinskis)

Uck (Simonas Šipavičius)

It's going to be such an important day, for us to present very different yet equally interesting and genuine pieces of Lithuanian Jazz music. And it's only one part of the performance... Because we get to play one more concert... We get to play "ANTI ROBOTIC DANCE MUSIC". Have you heard of it? If you haven't, no worries, next week we're gonna spend time talking about this. So stay tuned and...

See you there?

https://www.jazzfest.dk/